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Last child soldiers in the Americas to be freed as Farc agree to release Colombia's children
Colombia’s largest rebel group has announced that it will free all child soldiers, bringing to an end a disturbing chapter in the country’s history and marking important progress in talks to end the longest-running civil war in the West.
Exactly how many children are currently held by Farc, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, is unclear. The UN puts the figure at 348, while Farc claim that they have stopped recruiting child soldiers and only have 15 in their ranks. Since 1999 the UN says that almost 6,000 have been freed.
President Juan Manuel Santos announced the news from Cuba - where peace talks are being held - on Sunday night, saying: "We have reached an historic agreement in Havana to take children out of war."
“One of the biggest horrors of a conflict is when we drag our children and young people into combat,” said Humberto de la Calle, a chief government negotiator. Since 2012 the government has been negotiating with Farc to bring an end to a conflict that has raged since the 1960s, killing more than 220,000 people and forcing millions from their homes.
“It’s for this reason that this agreement is a crucial advance in the process of bringing this war to a close.”
According to the terms of the agreement, Farc and the government would soon determine an immediate “exit” for those under 15 and develop a “road map for an exit for the remaining minors,” those between 15 and 18. Children were often recruited by guerrilla groups to become "pisa suaves" or “light footed” – a name for soldiers who would sneak silently into camps and set bombs and other types of booby traps. The children were typically anywhere between eight and 16 years old, and were trained in explosives and to move in total silence.
Dr Shelly Whitman, executive director of the Romeo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, praised Colombia for prioritising child soldiers in the peace agreement.
“Colombia is the last place in the Americas to use child soldiers, so it is something the whole country recognises as a big issue,” she told The Telegraph.
“And credit must be given to the government, who have a national two-year rehabilitation programme for child soldiers which I believe is the most comprehensive in the world.”
But she cautioned that the government will now have to be very careful that the children do not fall prey to drug cartels, “and go from one deadly situation to another.”
Leila Zerrougi, the UN Secretary General's special representative on child soldiers, said the announcement was "a great step" and showed that the peace process was bearing fruit.
"How it is now implemented is very important," she told The Telegraph. "Farc must deliver on their promise. And the government must show that if the children go back into the community, nothing will happen to them."
She said it was essential that the children be given "a way out" and not left to fall into criminality.
"A child trained to use a weapon will never beg in the street," she said. "But they were not happy in the bush. So now it's up to us."
Negotiators say they are in the final phase of talks and hope to announce a ceasefire before the start of the summer. The two sides missed a deadline in March, however, and say many disagreements remain.